Thursday is going to be a busy one. My son is taking part in a holiday show at school in the morning, then I’ve got to race home and tape a segment with Scott Ott for PJTV. Followed by gift wrapping and other parental duties.

So here’s a picture of Christina Hendricks being all hot. Now do your part and give some money to Soldiers’ Angels, OK?

The government’s spending commitments exploded by 25 percent in 2008, putting taxpayers more than $1 trillion in the hole even before the astronomical costs of the economic bailout were taken into account, according to an annual report released Monday by the White House.

And I thought things were bad when the Republicans were running the show. Oh, right, they were…

Unlike many of my more tolerant fellow citizens, I possess no confidence in the ability of the American electorate to make sensible decisions. I have reached this conclusion based on an incontrovertible truth: You people will believe anything.

Ford had best find a buyer for Volvo before too many people get a gander at this abomination. Or maybe just shut down Volvo in its entirety and call it a “mercy killing,” which is probably legal in Sweden. If not, Stockholm will make it legal if they ever see what Ford has done to their baby.

What I want to know is, exactly how many committees were involved in designing that front end, why did no one provide them with one another’s contact information, who told the CAD programmer to take the results and “just wing it,” why were the executives in charge of preproduction vehicles all on vacation that week, who stole their emergency cell phone contact information, what drugs was everybody involved on, how much do they cost, do they go well with red wine, and where can I get some?

Also, I want to see that car from the rear end in the exact same way I’d like Rosie O’Donnell to moon me — while she’s suffering apoplexy.

Charlie Martin argues that those “US is bankrupt numbers” are totally wrong:

I wrote about the same comparison in PJM early in the year — can’t link it usefully, PJM has hosed something — making the correct comparison of total US assets per person versus total US obligations per person, and it was about $300K assets vs $160K obligations, or over the whole population, about $90 trillion versus $48 trillion. Most of that wealth is real stuff — land, houses, factories, etc — and hasn’t gone away in the last year.

The point is, we’re not bankrupt — we’re more like a homeowner with a mortgage. We have to keep working to make the payments.

COSTA DO SAUIPE, Brazil (Reuters) – Latin American leaders on Tuesday blamed the global economic crisis on rich countries and welcomed Communist-run Cuba at a summit meeting designed to weaken U.S. influence in the region.

Yeah, yeah — Obama was supposed to make us all loved overseas and all that. But you really should be comforted by the news from Brazil. If Obama were only half as far to the left as some people fear, then he’d be the guest of honor at this upcoming summit. Instead, he’s been snubbed.

I’ll tell you why the Democrats (and their enablers in the MSM) are trying to convince people that Blago is insane. It’s the same reason the Soviets used to put dissidents in the looney bin: anyone who doesn’t toe the party line is obviously insane, and should be dealt with accordingly. In this case, the party line is that the Democrats are all angels and only Republicans can be evil.

Most years, I’ll get Melissa a pair of slacks or three for work. Maybe Victoria’s Secret, maybe Ann Taylor — nothing too fancy or dressy, but comfy and sharp. This year, the poor catalog models mostly look like they were forced to put on the bottom half of David Byrne’s Big Suit from “Stop Making Sense.”

What is it about the Seventies — the ugliest decade in American history — that they keep coming back? It’s the Dracula Decade, I swear. Well, call me Van Helsing (the Peter Cushing version, please) because I refuse to play. I will not be buying any big pants, this year or ever.

Please, for the sake of everything that is pretty and good, you should do the same.

My close dear personal lady friend Miss Christina Hendricks called me late Saturday night. “Steve,” she whispered to me in her best Marilyn, “what have you done for Soldiers’ Angels and their efforts to send 150,000-plus Christmas packages to our troops deployed overseas?”

“I’ve put up some really nice pictures of you, too,” I protested. “To try and bribe others into donating some money.”

“Stephen. My dear. What have you done for Soldiers’ Angels. Do something for them, for me, and I’ll let you call me back later tonight. After I’ve changed into something a little less…”

As she started to hang up the phone, I could hear the faint silk rustle of a bra clasp being unhooked.

So I clicked over to Soldiers’ Angels and put fifty bucks in the kitty. It was the least I could do, after everything Miss Christina Hendricks had done for me. If you can’t spare fifty, then twenty bucks will still get Christmas packages to two soldiers overseas.

And it would make Miss Christina Hendricks very appreciative. Trust me on this.